Topic: greenhouses

[AndyTranter]

 :wave:hi again i am thinking of buying a greenhouse, which type would you buy ie glass, polytunnell, or polypropelene i think i spelt that correctly, thanks in advance, Andy. 

[johhnyco15]

just a quick question will it be at home or allotment greenhouses need watering very regularly and poly tunnels are easy targets for vandals with stanley knives

[Tee Gee]

Well my first comment would be to buy the biggest you can fit in and or afford.

Once you have a greenhouse for some reason or another you never seem to have enough space so in my opinion it is much more consoling to say when you reach this point.......well It can't be helped this is as big as greenhouse as I could have fitted in rather than........I wished I had bought a bigger one!

Once you have determined the size you want have a look in the ad section of your local paper  or in your local shop windows to see if anyone is selling what you would like.

If not,.....then look on eBay  but be careful here,as things are  not always as they seem, plus you may have to transport from the seller's residence to yours.,which will add to your costs plus some bits might be missing meaning you will have to buy them,assuming you can,

In term of glazing then it is horticultural glass every time,not domestic glass as this is thicker and subsequently dearer.

Polycarbonate is false economy in my book as it can go brittle and discoloured and when it gets to this stage it can be as dangerous as traditional glass.

As I say these are opinions but the final decision is with you.

[Plot22]

I agree with Tee Gee as regards size. I bought a green Robinsons 12' X 8' 5 years ago  I could have just got a 14' in but it would prevent me using my frames in the summer. It was the best money that I ever spent. I store the frames in the greenhouse in the winter along with some of the garden furniture that will not fit in the store shed. My brother bought a 10' X 6' about the same time . Once he has his tomatoes in you can hardly turn round to work and that to me is the most important point you have to have room to work . If you can get a 8' wide one in or even wider then go for it. Also you need safety glass I see some of them on my allotment site with normal glass in and they look really dangerous to work in.
It is all the bits that add to the cost like shelving automatic windows and water tubs they are not cheap but this is the best time to buy. Throughout November/December I was inundated with various companies send me end of season offers.

[Paulines7]

I agree with Plot22 and Tee Gee that a greenhouse should have safety glass and should be the biggest that you can afford and have room for.  My old greenhouse often developed cracks in the glass and I was forever replacing it. I felt very vulnerable when any of the glass above my head developed a crack.  In the end, I went for a new, large, Rhino Premium and am so pleased with it.  My garden is on the edge of Salisbury Plain and it is very windy, so this was paramount when making my choice.

[AndyTranter]

hi thanx for the replies, mine will be going on an allotment, i am told by others on the site that they have had very little vandalism or theft,most theft was youngsters looking for petrol for track bikes. And the site is "secure" with steel gates and quality padlocks, most plots have sheds and or greenhouses, poly tunnels,no sign of any deliberate damage to them. also i can walk to the plot in about 10 minutes

[johhnyco15]

hi thanx for the replies, mine will be going on an allotment, i am told by others on the site that they have had very little vandalism or theft,most theft was youngsters looking for petrol for track bikes. And the site is "secure" with steel gates and quality padlocks, most plots have sheds and or greenhouses, poly tunnels,no sign of any deliberate damage to them. also i can walk to the plot in about 10 minutes

wow you are lucky we are always getting broken into i agree with tg sometimes biggest is definitely  best but try to get some sort of watering system in place for holidays in the summer hope you enjoy your journey

[Deb P]

I have toughened glass in my greenhouse at home, and ordinary 3mm horticultural glass in my little lottie greenhouse. If it's sheltered I'd start with ordinary glass as its so much cheaper, you are talking 10 times as expensive for toughened. However, when the storms shook my greenhouse at home so hard some of the glass fell out, not one pane broke, whereas I've had to replace about three panes of the lottie greenhouse glass in 10 years......and that was was only because my water butt tipped into it one winter and took out one run all at once!

Pay your money, take your choice......they are big investments but potentially expand your growing horizons exponentially.......

[ancellsfarmer]

My advice would be to consider headroom within as well as footprint size. Its worth considering if the addition of a riser wall as well as foundation will give sufficient headroom to stand upright without lacerations! Many green houses seem to be designed for the little people, and are limiting to taller crops as well as gardeners. Would also permit raised beds within.

[Deb P]

Agree with that, I have a "high sided" greenhouse at home, which gives you a lot more vertical growing room, some greenhouses have such low sides you can only get low staging to fit under it, and the roof seems to start at hip height!

[cambourne7]

Having recently bought one i would agree with all the above comments, lucky (or given the planning permission saga not) mine is in my garden but i would be reluctant to buy a new one for an allotment and i think a custom job with old doors may be sturdier and easier to bodge into shape. I know when i had an allotment the idea of a Pent shed with greenhouse front really appealed so on the colder days i could go in and warm up but could still grow things :)

Good luck

[Plot22]

Just Been talking to my wife re this article. She pointed out that our greenhouse does not have a step to climb over as you walk through the door. This makes it easy for taking the wheelbarrow in and it is something less to fall over as you get older. My brothers has a step and when I look after it for him when he is on holiday I have to think twice when I enter it because of the raised frame at ground level. Just a small point but a very valid one .

[johhnyco15]

 i have 3 greenhouses 1 12x10    1    8x6  and my small lean-to  one on my plot they have all got different thresholds the best thing is door width in my opinion single doors are not wide enough so if you can get one with double doors then go for that  most raised thresholds are only small so you can make a ramp when using a barrow  and double doors make easy access hope this helps

[ancellsfarmer]

Just Been talking to my wife re this article. She pointed out that our greenhouse does not have a step to climb over as you walk through the door. This makes it easy for taking the wheelbarrow in and it is something less to fall over as you get older. My brothers has a step and when I look after it for him when he is on holiday I have to think twice when I enter it because of the raised frame at ground level. Just a small point but a very valid one .

Yes good point but:
The greenhouse should sit on the outside edge of the foundation/wall and the sliding door(s) normally run on the outside of the greenhouse.So you leave out the threshold, cut a closure plate to superimpose below the door and it should slide as one. Be careful to fit to keep out small furry visitors if you can.

[Vinlander]

Polycarbonate is false economy in my book as it can go brittle and discoloured and when it gets to this stage it can be as dangerous as traditional glass.

I'm amazed to hear that TeeGee - it's possible that there are some rubbish grades of 3-4mm horticultural polycarbonate available, but in my occasional use of it (when I needed something that would fit the existing clips in a greenhouse) the stuff I bought behaves just like 10mm twinwall (which I've used a lot in the last 30 years).

Even when 10mm twinwall is going yellow it is always a flexible and relatively soft plastic - there's no way it can develop an edge like broken glass. The only time I've seen it tear was when a roofer dropped a lump of mortar the size of a halfbrick 4 or 5 metres onto a sheet that was practically amber with age - and even then it only smashed a 100mm V in the top surface and barely pierced the inner.

Yes, with some serious clumsiness and no little force I could scratch the back of my hand with it, but add in the fact it is so light - so it must be - say 100x safer than glass?

I'd like to hear if anyone else has had a bad experience with it, I may be buying more 4mm stuff soon so it would be useful to know not to go for the cheapest (which I usually do...).

I've said before that in 2 or 3 years PVC sheet becomes brittle and quite sharp - but I've got 30 year old 10mm twinwall sheets that will still fold along the 'grain' before they break.

Cheers.

[saddad]

I now have four greenhouses and a poly... and agree the largest you can afford. The bigger ones need decent foundations or the soil will settle and deform the frame under the weight. If vandals are an issue with polytunnels a chicken wire layer between two covers makes it impossible for vandals to slash all they can do is puncture as the knife wont pull across the wire.